You are invited to add your unique voice and perspective to a vibrant, forward thinking conversation around some of the most timely topics in the education sector. We welcome sophisticated commentary, similar to that found in the worlds leading publications, that covers a wide range of education related topics and draws fresh connections to contemporary issues. As a contributor you will both be invited to discuss topics of our choosing and have the exciting opportunity to create content of your choice around subjects that interest you as both a scholar and practitioner. Lets work together to move the conversation around education further into the future while reframing and evaluating scholarship of the past.

This commentary discusses the difficulty and necessity of teaching in “the now,” by responding to ongoing current events that are difficult to teach in our current social, cultural, and political context. The author says these complex moments and ideas need to be taught as they are impacting and affecting students.

English learners who experience learning difficulties face unique challenges in accessing instructional resources for optimal learning. In this commentary, the authors highlight four instructional considerations and how these often result in less than ideal instructional placement for these students.

The authors of this commentary argue that religious literacy should be considered an essential part of social studies curricula, enabling students to better understand many issues in contemporary culture.

In this commentary, the author asks: if we, as teacher educators, are subject to external mandates and directives to implement externally-scored assessments (e.g., edTPA), then how can we help students conceptualize them in constructive, and not simply compliant, ways?

This commentary argues that there is a lack of nuance on both sides of the Asian-American affirmative action debate. The author presents two nuances to stimulate further discussion aimed at dismantling a larger project of structural racism in which Asian Americans have been silenced and invisible.

Recent hate crimes in America highlight the vital importance of deliberately teaching students about race, racism, anti-Semitism, and how to speak out against bias. New Jersey provides a model for mandating Holocaust and genocide education in public schools.

This commentary argues that new providers of curricular resources may be changing the marketplace of curriculum materials; however, different types of providers may imply distinct views of the role of teachers in curriculum and instruction.

This commentary discusses the roots and purpose of both K-12 STEM and STEAM education in the United States. The authors advocate for STEAM as a way to engage more students in mathematics and science, while being guided by the three E's: Equity, Empathy, and Experience.

Educational researchers and theorists have noted the importance of student experimentation and learning from mistakes. The authors of this commentary argue that teachers need the same kinds of opportunities, calling for a cultural shift that acknowledges the centrality of experimentation, which inevitably includes mistakes, in teaching and teacher learning.

The confirmation hearings of Judge Brett Kavanaugh brought the toxic culture that exists at elite educational institutions to light. This commentary argues that elite institutions should remember that there is an important difference between character and privilege and that they should aim to graduate students of character, even if this means doing the hard work of exposing the damaging effects of privilege in the process.

This commentary examines how a high school English teacher approaches teaching a course, the very title of which connotes political bias, and discusses the importance of facilitating authentic conversations.

The California Supreme Court ruled that universities have a special relationship with their students that obligates them to protect students from foreseeable harm while students are in their classrooms or participating in curriculum-related activities.

This commentary engages the "sell out" phenomenon that often plagues justice oriented educators: not being able to engage in all forms of resistance and interruption often weighs on teachers engaged in critical teaching.

The authors of this commentary argue that teacher educators and future teachers need to understand politically-engaged and community-focused teaching as deeply rooted in the history of education. Teacher education should create spaces to meet what the authors call "historical mentors."

Standardized test scores have become one of the most common sources of data used for measuring equity along racial and ethnic lines, however, other than providing compelling evidence that disparities exist, standardized tests are a severely limited tool for supplying useful information related to educational equity.

This commentary reflects social-emotional learning and data use as a response to the My Brother’s Keeper initiative, a federal recommendation to address persistent opportunity gaps among students of color so that all young children can reach their full potential.

Submit a Commentary: Do you have a commentary that connects contemporary issues to the world of educational scholarship in some way? Please submit your work using this link.

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Teachers commentaries provide an important perspective on current educational issues. If you are a K-12 educator, we welcome you to submit a 1,000-1,500 word commentary in which you draw on your experience to address problems and opportunities confronting students and educators.

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As a first-year teacher in the states, I began to include home visits as a way to reach out to families in our small, Mississippi community after seeing my African-American women colleagues doing so. I am interested in writing (or reading) an article that examines the practice of home visits, especially its history in the African-American community and its implementation in African-centered schools today.

Abstract
The mantra “Every Child Can Learn” originally appeared in the education discourse as a way to level the educational playing field in regards to children coming from varied socioeconomic backgrounds. This paper seeks to use a foil for discussion “All Children Can Learn: Facts and Fallacies” (Thomas and Bainbridge, 2001) and as such, will explore that article’s concerns and how they can be interpreted 16 years later. As the rally call of the Effective Schools Movement, one might even state that the phrase brings to mind a call for social justice since the Movement endorsed the “understanding that school practices and policies can make a difference, even for children from homes in which parents have few educational or financial resources” (p. 660). The overarching concern for this author is that a reductionist view of what has become a knee-jerk statement has had direct influence on the rise—and endurance—of standardized education; policies that are punitive to educators; even the rise of diagnosis and treatment of ADHD. To be clear, Thomas and Bainbridge (2001) warned of similar concerns in their work, yet little has been written critically on the topic since. For example, the authors listed as one fallacy of the phrase ‘all children can learn’ needs to be put into context of the same curriculum in the same amount of time and at the same level (p. 661).
The statement “all children can learn” has taken on a nearly sacred connotation (for both the political left and right), and any educator who might challenge the statement, or at least demand context for the statement, can receive the consternation of colleagues at the least, or feel herself in career jeopardy at most.